Tag: older content

Our day began at ~4 AM to travel to the airport to begin our trek south. This field week on Roatan is a culmination of our spring class called PS4363 – Roatan Field Study. We were on summer break and traveled from as far as El Paso to get to San Antonio for our flight. We learned that a few of us have turbulence sensitivity! Thank goodness for pretzels and ginger-ale!
On arrival, we went through the immigration line for about an hour and then swiftly got our bags and headed via shuttle to Anthony’s Key Resort.

On Friday, the breeze in Bimini was still stiff, but with sunny skies we departed at 1500 in search of dolphins. We did not see any along the shore and the guests, who have been to Bimini many times, asked to stop at 3 Sisters for a quick snorkel. After they toured the biggest rock, we were soon on our way again…
It seemed the seas were going to get the better of us when Captain Al suddenly saw two bottlenose dolphins at the bow.

On Wednesday, I joined Bimini Adventures’ guests on “the small boat” and headed in search of dolphins. The seas were much rougher than Monday and Tuesday and while we searched for dolphins, we could see squalls building to the east. Sure enough, we never did find any dolphins, but we did find some beautiful rain storms. We were able to stay clear of the largest of the storms and while we tried to avoid the smaller, later squall, we had to accept some rain drops.

It’s not that I can pack for my field sessions in my sleep. It’s that I have a trusty “to-include” list that makes packing easy with each passing year! The MVA and hydrophones are tucked into their bag with care and cushioning. Mask, fins, snorkel are snuggled adjacent to wet suit, bathing suits and rash/sun guard shirts. The cameras are in my carryon bag along with the data notebook with blank sheets waiting for observations of dolphin behavior and vocal activity!
I’ve connected with Dr.

On Tuesday, it felt great to get back on the water and search for dolphins. Plus, this week’s guests are a couple who has been chartering Bimini Adventures for several years and I always look forward to chatting with them. The sun was shining and although the breeze was strong, the seas started out calm enough. Soon, however, clouds were building to our east and south and, with that, the seas really kicked up. As I watched Captain Al assess the weather, I felt the boat turn.

Nat used the word bittersweet in two recent posts – and the feeling applies to Friday as well. A short but strong thunderstorm woke everyone early, but soon I had my kids scooped up and piled on the golf cart. We picked up Nat and her suitcase and dropped her to the water taxi. Her five weeks on Bimini had come to an end and we were all sad to part ways.

Thursday was another day full of bittersweets. Bitter because it was my last day on the island, but sweet because of all the adventures that day held. I woke up early at the ripe time of 6:30 am to start brewing the coffee and to wrap up some of the photo IDs I had been previously working on. Then I strolled over with my fins and mask in hand over to Neal Watson’s Bimini SCUBA Center to go on a two tank morning dive.

Wednesday was a day full of bittersweets as we had to say goodbye to our friend and intern Frankie. Frankie and I were able to spend the morning together in our usual roommate routine of making a big pot of coffee and working on photo sorting and blog writing. Then we were invited over to Kel’s house to help celebrate Captain Al’s birthday. We had hamburgers and salads for lunch and then topped it off with a delicious chocolate cake.

Tuesday morning was a hard wakeup for me- it was my last full day on Bimini. With the boat trip being cancelled Monday, I was glad Nat and I had the opportunity to explore the island. But I was very excited to get back on the boat and spend my last day here searching for dolphins.
Nat and I started off with our usual morning routine of a large pot of coffee and a few hours of work before prepping for our afternoon boat ride.

Monday was a quiet day for Frankie and me, but there are no complaints here! After making a big pot of coffee we continued to work on photo sorting and video logs to get our hours in. We worked on data all morning and then Kel informed us that there would be no boat trip that afternoon. Although we were excited to go out on the boat, we decided to take a break and explore the island instead since it is sadly our last week here.